Several publications and patent documents are cited throughout this application in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains. The disclosure of each of these citations is incorporated by reference herein.
Hematophagous insects use a variety of visual, mechanical, chemical, and thermal cues to detect vertebrate hosts [1]. Host searching behavior in unfed bont tick, Amblyomma hebraeum Koch [2, 3], and Glossina spp. (Diptera: Glossinidae) [4] is stimulated by carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by mammalian hosts. Odors from human skin [5], sweat, breath and body odors from cattle, birds, and mice [6], bird feathers or skin [7], and bird uropygial glands [8], play a major role in attracting different families of hematophagous mosquitoes. Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) have been found to be attracted to CO2 [9, 10, 11], heat and chemical odors [10, 11, 12, 13]. Anderson [10] demonstrated the effectiveness of a trap baited with CO2 (50-400 ml/min), heat (37.2-42.2° C.) and a chemical lure comprised of 33.0 μg propionic acid, 0.33 μg butyric acid, 0.33 μg valeric acid, 100 μg 1-octen-3-ol (octenol) and 100 μg L-lactic acid. In a separate study, Wang [11] confirmed the effectiveness of CO2 (169 ml/min) and heat (43.3-48.8° C.) in their attraction to bed bugs. However, none of these studies confirmed the effectiveness of chemical lures alone or interactions among chemical lures, heat, and CO2.
Over 300 nonsocial arthropod species belonging to 51 families in 12 different orders were reported to use aggregation pheromones [14]. Bed bug nymphs showed specific preference for paper discs that had been exposed to conspecifics of the same developmental stage [15]. Siljander [16] identified air borne aggregation pheromones that consisted of many chemical components including, (E)-2-hexenal, (E)-2-octenal, (2E, 4E)-octadienal, benzaldehyde, nonanal, decanal, sulcatone, (+)-limonene, (−)-limonene, and benzyl alcohol. These chemicals were attractive to nymphs in olfactometer bioassays. These pheromones could potentially be used for monitoring bed bugs; however their effectiveness has not been tested yet in arenas under conditions that simulate field conditions.
Bed bugs hide during the day and are difficult to locate as they are small and elusive. Therefore, developing effective monitoring tools has been recognized as a critical component in the current campaign for fighting bed bug resurgence [17]. Most of the available monitors incorporate one or several non-chemical and chemical lures to attract and capture hungry bed bugs foraging for blood meals. However, the data on the role of various lures in the effectiveness of monitors are very limited.